Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine
The two Travises (or should it be Travi?) sparked the Blue Jays affiliates to a 3-1 night on the farm.  Find out which of the Travi made the cut in the three star selections of today's MLU.


Las Vegas 4 Iowa 1

Des Moines, IA - The 51s scored a run in each of the first three frames and added one more in the sixth.  The Cubs affiliate crossed the plate for the only time in the fourth.

Batting - Dewayne Wise and Travis Snider combined for 75% of the 51s hit total with three hit nights.  Wise had a double and two RBI while Snider also had a two-bagger and a run batted in.  Mike McCoy singled and walked and Brian Jeroloman was on base twice via bases on balls (BJBBM=15!).    Jason Lane had a double while Adam Loewen and Chris Woodward each drew a walk.  Brett Lawrie and David Cooper suffered 0-for-4 nights but Lawrie got aboard once by taking one for the team.

Running - Loewen stole a base.  Wise and McCoy both were thrown out at second.

Pitching - Scott Richmond improved to 3-2 on the season by yielding a solo home run among two hits and four walks over six innings.  He struck out three and of his 11 outs in play, his ground ball total was three.  Lefty Rommie Lewis struck out a batter in a perfect 1 1/3 innings of work.  Josh Roenicke allowed just one hit in 2/3 of an inning.  Danny Farquhar notched his sixth save by giving up one hit in a scoreless frame.

Defence
- Wise started a 9-4-3 double play that was completed by McCoy and Cooper.

New Hampshire 8 Portland 3

Portland, ME - The Fisher Cats scored a run in each of the first two frames and totaled six more runs over innings five through seven.  The Red Sox affiliate put up a desperation three in the eighth but it was not nearly enough.

Batting - Six Fisher Cats enjoyed multi-hit games.  Travis d'Arnaud was pretty darn good with a 3-for-5 night that included a homer and two doubles.  Michael McDade had two doubles and an RBI, Adeiny Hechavarria had a double among his two hits while Darin Mastroianni, Moises Sierra and Ricardo Nanita had two singles apiece.  Anthony Gose had a single, a walk and a run batted in.  Craig Stansberry had a double, a hit by pitch and an RBI and Callix Crabbe contributed a two-run homer.

Running - Stansberry stole a base.  Hechavarria did not.

Pitching - Reidier Gonzalez ran his record to 6-1 by lasting seven innings in which he gave up three runs on eight hits and a walk.  He struck out five and threw a wild pitch.  Ronald Uviedo walked a batter an allowed an inherited runner to score but punched out a couple of batters in his one inning of work.  Lefty Evan Crawford walked a pair but also whiffed a pair in a scoreless ninth.

Defence - No errors by the good guys.

Charlotte 12 Dunedin 2

Dunedin, FL - The Rays affiliate opened the scoring with a run in the second before putting up deuces in innings three through five.  The five runs in the eighth were just overkill.  Dunedin managed their two runs in the sixth.

Batting - Justin Jackson was on base three times with two hits and a walk and also drove in a run.  Kenny Wilson had two hits, including a double.  Kevin Ahrens had a double and an RBI and Jon Talley had the other hit for Dunedin.  Brad Glenn and Ivan Contreras drew a walk apiece.  Brian Van Kirk, Sean Ochinko and Ryan Goins were hitless in 12 trips to the dish combined.

Running - Wilson was thrown out trying to steal second.

Pitching - No mojo for Wojo on this night.  Asher Wojciechowski was an out shy of getting through five innings.  He surrendered seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits (including two homers) and three walks but he did strike out five.  Six of his eight outs were airborne.  Scott Gracey gave up a hit and plunked a batter but he did not give up a run over 2 1/3 innings.  Chris Malone was burned for five runs in his one inning of work.  He gave up a homer among the three hits he allowed and issued a pair of walks but did strike out a batter.  Wes Etheridge plunked a man and walked another but did put up a scoreless inning.

Defence - Ochinko was 0-for-1 in throwing out base runners attempting to steal and also allowed a passed ball.


Lansing 8 Fort Wayne 4

Lansing, MI
- The Padres affiliates scored twice in the fifth and added singles in the seventh and eighth to carry a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth.  The Lugnuts saved the best for last by getting their first run in the seventh before putting up a converted touchdown in the eighth for the win.

Batting - Michael Crouse had a perfect night at the plate with three hits, including a pair of doubles, and a walk.  K.C. Hobson also had a three hit evening with a double and an RBI.  Kevin Nolan got aboard three times with a double, a single and a walk while driving in a pair.  Markus Brisker also reached thrice with two hits and a hit by pitch while driving in a run.  Carlos Perez joined Brisker and Nolan in the two-hit gang.  Oliver Dominguez had just one hit but was the RBI leader with three thanks to a two-run single that plate the go ahead runs as well as a run scoring groundout that put the Lugnuts on the board.  Bryson Namba was hitless but did bring home a run.  Lance Durham was 0-for-3 as the DH.  Jonathan Jones was plunked in a pinch-hitting appearance for Durham but scored a run before later grounding out.

Running - Brisker and Crouse each stole a base.  Brisker is 10-for-10 on the season while Crouse is 18-for-21.  Hobson was thrown out at home plate.

Pitching - Drew Hutchison also fell one out short of making it through five innings.  He gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four.  His groundout/flyout total was 2-5.  Dayton Marze allowed one of two inherited runners to score and also gave up a solo home run among his two hits through 2 1/3 innings.  He also committed a balk but his K-BB total was 4-1.  Danny Barnes was the winner in this one.  He gave up a run on two hits over two frames but did punch out three batters.

Defence - Perez was 0-for-2 in throwing out base stealers with Hutchison and Marze on the mound.  Nolan and Hobson teamed up on a 6-3 double play.


*** 3 Stars!!! ***


3.  Dewayne Wise, Las Vegas


2.  Michael Crouse, Lansing


1.  Travis d'Arnaud, New Hampshire

Travis-Ty Times Two | 26 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Mike Green - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 01:02 PM EDT (#235461) #
It's pretty clear that d'Arnaud can hit when healthy, and it is questionable whether his body can stand up to a regular catcher's workload.  A change of position is one option.  I wonder also about moving him to a DH/C role.  In the future, you could have Arencibia catching 120 games and DHing 40 while d'Arnaud did the reverse.  I guess that there would be some roster flexibility advantages to such an arrangement, although also some additional difficulty if the starting catcher has to leave the game due to injury.
Mylegacy - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 01:22 PM EDT (#235465) #
One of D'Arnaud, Jiminez or Perez learns to play 2nd (most likely Jimenez becomes our 2nd baseman of the future), one backs up JPA (most likely Perez) and the other (most likely D'Arnaud) goes wee, wee, wee, all the way to some other team for a very nice bag of trinkets (pretty little things Magpie would be attracted to).

Injuries, performance and AA not having read my instructions to him - could all impact on my well thought out plans.
Mike Green - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 01:35 PM EDT (#235467) #
I am not sure that Jiminez has the physical tools to make him a second baseman.  I do know that I would definitely have to change my mental image of what a second baseman looks like...not that there is anything wrong with that.  Jimenez has the prototypical short stout catcher's build. 
eldarion - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 01:42 PM EDT (#235470) #
Granted it's a fairly small sample size (89 at bats) but d'Arnaud looks to be coming on quite strongly (.972 OPS at double A). There were reports in spring training that he had bulked up considerably in the off-season; has anyone seen him play in person? Is his new found power legit?
Mike Forbes - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 01:42 PM EDT (#235471) #
From my understanding of the organizations catchers, Carlos Perez could be the guy to move to a middle infield position. I wouldn't mind if the Jays maybe experimented with D'arnaud at 1st on his off days from catching. Arencibia looks like a keeper,
85bluejay - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 01:49 PM EDT (#235473) #
Catching is the toughest position to develop quality players and are therefore  very valuable - rather than moving a quality catching prospect, the team will get much better value trading some of that excess talent and I generally prefer to move the ML  player (Accepting that the prospect is above average) because that player usually brings more in return and also you have more controllable yrs. of the prospect - i can see in 2 yrs. Arencibia traded and D'Arnaud taking his spot. 
85bluejay - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 01:52 PM EDT (#235474) #
In the above post I shoild have said "rather than moving a quality catching prospect to another position"
Gerry - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 01:57 PM EDT (#235475) #

Mike says it is questionable whether d'Arnaud can stay at catcher but the Jays will keep him at catcher for as long as they can.  A catcher is much more valuable than a second baseman.  Even if the Jays thought that d'Arnaud might not hold up at catcher they would likely leave him at catcher and trade him at catcher value rather than diminish that value by playing him elsewhere.

However, d'Arnaud's injury this year was concussion related and as long as he doesn't suffer another head shot this season those concerns will abate. Catchers tend to be injury prone by virtue of the job description.   I can see the Jays moving d'Arnaud up to AAA next season and planning on a JPA/d'Arnaud platoon in 2013.  They may end up trading one of those catchers in the meantime, a lot depends on how JPA develops over the next 12 months.  JPA looks good now but baseball people look at 40 games as a drop in the ocean.

I believe the Jays see d'Arnaud as a better long term solution at catcher, if he doesn't have chronic injury issues.

Mike Forbes - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 02:04 PM EDT (#235476) #
Also, any of the catchers in the minors could look better behind the plate than Molina has this year.
gabrielthursday - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 02:08 PM EDT (#235477) #
I believe that should be Traves (with a long ē).  We have, with our catchers, an embarrassment of riches.  One wonders if Arencibia's bilingualism stands him in higher stead with the club - he certainly seems to have integrated well with both sides of the clubhouse, akin to Bautista; and it is, of course, useful in communicating with some spanish-speaking pitchers.
Kelekin - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 03:37 PM EDT (#235486) #
Baseball America has posted their final Top 200 Draft Rankings. 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/draft/draft-preview/2011/2611794.html

Notables include Aaron Westlake at #59 and Chris Marlowe at #99.

nikeno - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 08:46 PM EDT (#235492) #
Speaking of the Jay's minor league teams, does anybody have information about who will be playing for Vancouver this year? The Canadians' season starts in a few scant weeks, but the team website has only one player listed on the roster (a pitcher called Drew Permissions). I am definitely going to catch a few games this year since I live pretty close to Nat Bailey (and it's the closest I'm ever likely to seeing the Blue Jays in action).

Any tips on which players to watch for would be very welcome!

Nike
TamRa - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 09:18 PM EDT (#235494) #
the short season rosters are not assigned until after the June draft.

A reasonable guess would be:

A rotation of Sanchez/Syndergaard/Murphy/Nicolino/ and maybe Webb is dropped back, otherwise maybe Jesse Hernandez

Milciades Santana to close, along with Permission, Outman, Elliot Longpre and Garrett in the pen - maybe Berl.

Kelin Sweeney and Chris Hawkins, if they don't mind having the on thee same team - otherwise only one of them. Thon if he's able to play and Opitz at SS if he's not.  Dalton Pompey maybe in the OF. Most of the rest will be filler or 2011 draftees.


TamRa - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 09:26 PM EDT (#235495) #
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/draft/draft-preview/2011/2611794.html

also there's a top 50 on MLB.com

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2011/index.jsp?c_id=tor#list=tor
(click the top 50 link at the top)

With a scouting report on each. I like:

Josh Bell
Jose Fernandez
Alex Meyer
Henry Owens (prefer "Hank")

Gerry - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 09:26 PM EDT (#235496) #

Vancouver will get the high draft picks who played college ball.  They will also get players from Auburn last season who didn't make full season ball like Matt Nuzzo, Art Charles, Steve McQuail and Yudelmis Hernandez.  Pitching wise they will have Permison in the bullpen as well as Jesse Hernandez.  From there it's mix and match.

If the Jays first four picks are college pitchers then Sanchez and Syndergaard could go to Bluefield.

Gerry - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 09:28 PM EDT (#235497) #
Henderson Alvarez pitched six innings tonight and gave up one run on six hits.  There were only three balls hit out of the infield, two hits and a fly ball.  There were four infield singles and the Cats turned three double plays behind him.  On the down side he had just two K's.
TamRa - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 09:37 PM EDT (#235498) #
on the catcher thing, as a kind of "ideal" ignoring injuries and such that WILL happen, my crystal ball looks like this


2011
MLB - JPA/Molina
AAA - Jeroloman
AA  - d'Arnoud
A - Jimenez
a - Perez

2012
MLB - JPA/Molina(or similar)
AAA - d'Arnaud/Jeroloman
AA - Jimenez
A - Perez

2013
MLB - JPA/d'Arnaud
AAA - Jimenez
AA - Perez

Arencibia traded in off-season, or moved to DH

2014
MLB - d'Arnaud/Jeroloman (or Molina-type FA)
AAA - Jimenez (dealt mid-season for key addition)
AA - Perez (promoted mid-season after the trade)

2015
MLB - d'Arnaud
AAA - Perez

2016
MLB - d'Arnaud/Perez

After that either one is traded or perez is moved out to another position.

Of course there is MASSIVE potential for variables here, but you get the idea.

Gerry - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 09:46 PM EDT (#235499) #
Nestor Molina started for Dunedin tonight and he walked one hitter over six innings, that was his fifth walk of the season.  Molina also struck out ten over those six innings, that's 55 K's to 5 walks.
Kelekin - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 11:35 PM EDT (#235501) #
Any recent reports on Molina? The control is nice but you have to hope he isn't getting away with Josh Banks-magic.
85bluejay - Wednesday, May 25 2011 @ 11:39 PM EDT (#235502) #

Does anyone have a scouting report on Nestor Molina - I read on John Sickles site that his information (last Year) was that Molina had Fringy stuff -perhaps it's improved over the winter as he's relatively new to pitching .  

cybercavalier - Thursday, May 26 2011 @ 12:56 AM EDT (#235503) #
Minor update: Farewell to Adam Calderone and Niumen Romero went respectively to Detroit AA's Erie and Phillies AA's Reading.
Sano - Thursday, May 26 2011 @ 02:36 AM EDT (#235508) #
Very very excited to go see some Vancouver Canadians games this season. I'll definitely try to get some Sanchez/Syndergaard scouting reports going (though I make no promises on my abilities to scout!).
Gerry - Thursday, May 26 2011 @ 09:04 AM EDT (#235509) #

Molina does not blow you away, he has a high eighties fastball, a splitter, a change-up and a breaking ball.  That could be Josh Banks but it could also be Shaun Marcum.  The  fastball, splitter and change-up could all look the same to the hitter and that could be what is making Molina so successful.  What is most impressive about Molina is that he was signed as an outfielder and he has only been pitching for a few years, this is his first year as a full time starter. 

There is an old saying in baseball "the hitters will let you know".  We kept waiting for Shaun Marcum to get hit but he never did.  The lack of walks shows that Molina has excellent command of his pitches and if you are going to succeed with less powerful stuff you need good command.

ayjackson - Thursday, May 26 2011 @ 10:17 AM EDT (#235513) #
I thought I read a report that Molina was sitting 91-92 now.  I thought it was from here.  Mamboon?
gabrielthursday - Friday, May 27 2011 @ 01:54 AM EDT (#235564) #
I've seen a few mentions of "reports" of Molina throwing 93-94 at Jays Journal and Bluebird Banter.  Sounds vague, and I'd love to hear information from reliable sources.
Mike Green - Friday, May 27 2011 @ 08:37 AM EDT (#235567) #
When I saw Molina in Auburn last summer, it looked to my very untrained eye that he was sitting at 92 rather than in the high eighties.  His fastball was definitely noticeably faster than Marcum's or Banks'.  He was throwing in relief then, and normally pitchers will be able to add a couple of mph when just throwing for an inning or two, and so it would be very useful to know what his stuff looks like now that he is in the rotation.

After a homer, single and two HBPs last night, Mike McDade sits at .326/.389/.531.  It took him a little while to get rolling, but he has been a force in May. 
Travis-Ty Times Two | 26 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.